Previously, under former contractor Veolia, residents in Tunbridge Wells were able to recycle paper and card (in a green box) and green and food waste (using a brown wheeled bin) at the kerbside, with plastic bottle banks provided at neighbourhood recycling sites.
However, Cory has now purchased a new fleet of vehicles that have two separate compartments, allowing them to take paper and card on one side and plastic bottles and cans on the other.
The result is a new recycling service that allows residents to leave cans and plastic bottles outside their property to be collected fortnightly alongside other materials. From the end of July, the banks at recycling sites will be removed.
A new green box to place cans and plastic bottles in for recycling, has been delivered to those properties that will be part of the scheme. The box will be collected on the same day as all other recyclables.
An information leaflet explaining the service and start dates has been delivered to all householders.
Mixed plastics
The council explained that it would not be collecting mixed plastics, such as yoghurt pots, for recycling, because it was a “lot more expensive” to sort, with fewer markets for the material.
However, it said that, all residual waste would be used to generate electricity for the National Grid at the energy-from-waste plant at Allington, owned by Waste Recycling Group and Kent Enviropower.
Councillor Paul Barrington-King, Tunbridge Wells borough council's portfolio holder for sustainability, said: “An awful lot of hard work has gone into introducing this scheme and I am delighted that we are now in a position to be able to collect more material for recycling from the kerbside.
“Tunbridge Wells residents are amongst the best in the country for recycling and have been asking for this service for some time. With the new partnership we now have with Cory we are able to do this at no extra expense to our residents,” he added.
Launch
The council's new collection scheme was officially launched by the chief executive of Tunbridge Wells borough council, Sheila Wheeler, Cllr Paul Barrington-King, portfolio holder for sustainability and Malcolm Ward, chief executive of Cory Environmental.
Cory has also been providing a refuse collection service to Tunbridge Well's 47,000 households, as well as street cleansing and litter collection services.
Cory Environmental currently has contracts with six local authorities for refuse collection, recycling and street cleansing. These are Tunbridge Wells, Southend-on-Sea, Lincoln City, East Northants, Rutland and Carrick in Cornwall.
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